The Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) 18th Annual Conference, held in late October in London, Ontario was an opportunity for business, government and NGOs to assess and absorb the benefits of co-operative thinking for Eco Efficiency.
It appeared evident at the conference that more and more stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors, and for-profit and non-profit arenas, are turning to the belief that recycling and waste management issues are most effectively tackled by pooling intellectual, financial, and human resources. Such partnerships are generating ideas and producing useful data and concrete action plans to forward recycling and waste management across Ontario and throughout Canada.
It was evident at the RCO conference that not all groups have reached a collective understanding on the roles they play and on the responsibilities they have within the system. Many feel they are clear on what the "other guy" should do. However, and this is extremely important to the work which must continue, all parties do agree that they must work cohesively to find a solution to the current hurdles. This is particularly important as it sets the stage for constancy of purpose, the first step in creating a quality approach to improve the system.
Continuing this co-operative process is likely to produce a recycling and waste management system in Ontario that will be effective and used as a model throughout the world, much in the way our home-grown Blue Box program has been used. The challenge now for everyone concerned about recycling and waste management will be to minimize the amount of waste we produce so as not to find ourselves worsening our plight. Perhaps the single most important step to reduce residential waste, as we heard at the RCO Conference from most partners all sectors, is a "user pay" system. John Fleming, Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, in his speech to the delegates indicated the provincial government's support for this type of "public cost recovery." This is an idea which has already come to many communities around Ontario and its implementation has dramatically increased diversion from disposal.
Whatever action plans are chosen in Ontario, Glass Works believes that the greatest benefit will be realized by focusing on quality. This requires that we work together as partners on a relay team, to pass materials through the loop and not allow them to become waste in the first place. We cannot lose the race against waste.
As a subset of CSR's Markets Committee, Geoff Rathbone chairs the Glass Task Group. Its mandate is to work on the sustainability of glass markets and to determine the impact of technological change on the recycling system. Members of the group include:
Of immediate concern to the Glass Task Group is the void in the market created by the closing of Sandman Eco, which occurred on September 15, 1997.
Questions or suggestions on any of the above should be directed to the Chair, Geoff Rathbone. Geoff is V. P. Technical & Markets of CSR. Contact points for Geoff are:
Phone: 416- 594-3456 ext. 240
Fax: 416-594-3463
Email:rathbone@csr.org
Consumers Glass has been undergoing a number of corporate changes that we shared with you in the Spring 1997 issue. To enhance synergy in the bigger corporation that includes Consumers Glass' six plants, ten more plants acquired from Anchor Glass Corporation and Glenshaw Glass, the responsibility for purchasing recycled glass has been assigned to Jim Keenan. Jim is Director of Raw Material Purchases at Anchor's corporate offices in Tampa, Florida. He can be reached at 813-882-7707 or through fax at 813-884-1364.
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